LEGAL traveller sites are needed in Surrey Heath because the community is growing and needs somewhere to live, members of a travellers’ forum have said.

The comments were made ahead of Friday's deadline for people to submit their views about the plans to build around 1,200 homes in Deepcut.

The Surrey Gypsy Traveller Community Relations Forum said the pitches were needed to accommodate travellers legally.

“The Gypsy community is growing just as the rest of the community is growing,” said John Hockley, co-chairman of the forum. “A lot of people have perceptions about Gypsies that very often are influenced by negative reports and don’t want to have Gypsy sites next to them.

“A lot of people have fear of crime but what it often boils down to is property prices.”

Mr Hockley also said he had not seen any statistics to show the existing sites in Bagshot and Chobham had led to any increase in crime or disorder there.

“I can’t find any statistics that would suggest that crime is higher than it is anywhere else. That perception, that Gypsy sites have a higer level of crime is not really right,” he said.

Mr Hockley said some of the comments during the Deepcut consultation had been disparaging of Gypsies and he warned people they could be construed as racist.

“People seem to think that the Gypsies and travellers are the last (minority) group it’s still okay to have a go at and the message we’re getting out is that it’s not,” he said.

Surrey Heath Borough Council is planning to set up 19 traveller pitches in the borough by 2028 and is looking at including ‘three to four’ in the Deepcut development.

The council has said the Deepcut planning application could go before a vote of all councillors. Deepcut residents put together an online form for people to fill in and register their thoughts about the plans.

The default version of the form lists ‘strong objections’ to the lack of investment in the roads to cater for more traffic, the size and location of the proposed supermarket, the loss of existing green space, the proximity of new houses to current ones and the traveller pitches.

It says of the planned traveller pitches: “The proposal significantly changes the existing character of the village after existing residents across the Deepcut and Heatherside area have bought their homes, thereby denying choice.

“Based on the current proposed location it is particularly relevant to Dettingen Park residents who bought their homes at a price that did not reflect the imposition of a travellers site.

“The proposal is not in accordance with the public statement made by Eric Pickles, secretary of state for communities and local government, which requires that sites are considered where a historic presence exists and the local community support it, clearly neither of these requirements has been satisfied in Deepcut.”